Leading 2-0 mid-way through the game, playing a team that played last night and with Jack Capuano instilling a Devilish neutral zone trap, the Islanders blew the lead and lost to Atlanta 5-4.

With the game tied at 3-3, Bryan Little scored directly off a faceoff while Rick DiPietro was looking down at the ice.

Down 5-3 with 1:16 to play, the Islanders scored their first power goal goal after 46 unsuccessful tries that spanned 13 games. Blake Comeau scored with DiPietro pulled and the Islanders on a 6-on-4. In the first period, they failed to convert on a four-minute power play that included time up 5-on-3.

The game was played before an estimated 8,000 fans, including more than 1,000 from Quebec. In the final minutes, the Quebecois marched down and filled the lower rows of the Coliseum and roared. Islanders fans raved about the atmosphere.

No team in the last 16 seasons has ever overcome more than a 13-point deficit in the regular season to make the playoffs. Two weeks before Christmas, the Islanders are 19 points out of eighth place.

After losing ten in a row under Scott Gordon, the Islanders have won one of ten games under Jack Capuano. They are 1-16-3 in their last 20.

Rick DiPietro to reporters after the game: “The effort is there. The leadership is there. I feel like I want to throw up right now. That’s how I feel. That’s how the locker room feels.”